OpenID Promises Username and Password Consolidation, Decrease in Web Rage

User name and password not found in the database.

You have made more than three unsuccessful password attempts. Your account is now locked.

Password incorrect. Please answer security question: What was the name of your first pet?



I'm sure that like me, you've probably spent frustrating hours changing one character on a username or password trying to access your account. I often feel like an identity thief trying to steal my own identity back. Thankfully, the proliferation of technology that allows you to use one username and password for multiple sites, like OpenID, promises to eliminate the Kafkaesque struggle to guess, record and remember passwords.

These recurring phrases season modern life with a nightmarish absurdity. If I can't remember the name of my first pet, I can't access my bank account?!? If I misspell my mother's maiden name I am condemned to the limbo of being on hold with customer service for the rest of my life?!? Such occurrences make me question the efficiency of the whole technology revolution. I'd prefer the telegraph, wampum, or the barbershop-hospital combination any day.

When I think of all the username and password variations I have for iTunes, Facebook and MMORPGs, I feel like fainting. They are generally all slight variations of my original Starcraft username and follow a theme along the lines of "manbitesdog." So I end up with slightly different user names like "manbitingdog," "dogbytingdog," "dawgbitbymandog," etc. The mottled passwords are even worse, heaven help me! E.g. #bUrritO_PuncH-that's not even English. The human brain is not capable of recording or processing such information.

OpenID basically allows you to log on to your social networking site, webmail, or blog with a single username and password. Imagine the convenience! Google, MySpace, Plaxo and Microsoft along with others have all thrown their support behind adopting OpenID technology. Yahoo and AOL have already jumped on the bandwagon. All herald the coming age of online convenience!

But before we open our arms to warmly welcome OpenID technology, there are a few kinks to be worked out. Namely, people are too stupid to type a username and password into a box. Years of conditioning have made us fear giving information to third-party sites. Apparently, the fact that current OpenID logon directs users to a site separate from their webmail, blog or networking site causes people to have anxiety attacks and stick with their time tested logon box.

If users can learn to stop cowering from a very slightly modified logon process, OpenID and similar utilities promise to reduce the HTML-based bureaucracy that makes online bill paying, networking, and webmail a perennial hassle. I'm completely enthusiastic about a streamlined internet with no new usernames, passwords, security questions, or lengthy registration processes.

OpenID is already widespread for many services (check your iGoogle, AOL and Yahoo accounts). I figure I might as well get on the bandwagon now. If I have to call another customer service line because I forgot a security question, I'm liable to punch my computer monitor.

Check to see if any of your favorite sites support OpenID and try it out. Why not give a gander at some of our favorite web services while you're at it? And don't forget these other un-password-protected blog posts:

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